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Cal Am - West San Martin

What EPA’s and California’s records show in this utility’s water: nitrate, arsenic and other regulated chemicals; lead and copper; and violations since 2016, with the certification that handles each result.

Serves
1,079 people
Connections
327
Water source
Groundwater
Based in
Pacific Grove, CA
County
Santa Clara
Owner
Private
Hardness
Very hard
The ZIP code it serves

95046

The short answer

1 result is above the health goal. The worst: Lead, above the health goal. 1 health-based violation since 2016.

What handles it

What was found

Lead and copper: EPA SDWIS monitoring periods ending 2006 to 2025.

Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and uranium: California’s own results, samples taken from June 22, 2020 to June 8, 2026, with EPA’s 2012 to 2019 file for earlier years.

Above the health goal1

Lead

Comes from pipes, often your own

Above the health goal

3.0ppb

90th percentile, 2023 to 2025

In the latest period, 9 in 10 homes sampled were at or below 3.0 ppb, below EPA’s action level of 15 ppb. The action level drops to 10 ppb on Nov. 1, 2027. EPA’s health goal for lead is zero.

What handles it

Below EPA’s limits5

Nitrate

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

6.8ppm

Highest sample; found in 41 of 41

2026 average: 5.1 ppm

The highest sample, in 2020, was 6.8 ppm, below EPA’s legal limit of 10 ppm. In 2026, the latest year on file, its six samples averaged 5.1 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest sample of 10.4 ppm, in 2013.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Nitrate/Nitrite (30 ppm challenge)”

Total trihalomethanes (TTHM)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

19.4ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 6.5 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 19.4 ppb, in 2025, below EPA’s legal limit of 80 ppb. Its highest single sample was 21 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 6.5 ppb. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 6.0 ppb, in 2016.

What handles it

  • NSF/ANSI 53 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”
  • NSF/ANSI 58 look for “Trihalomethanes (TTHM) Reduction”

Haloacetic acids (HAA5)

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

2.5ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2026

2026 average: 0.55 ppb

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.5 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 60 ppb. Its highest single sample was 4.0 ppb. In 2026, the latest year on file, its two samples averaged 0.55 ppb.

What handles it

No certification claim covers this compound yet.

Fluoride

Forms or is added in treatment

Below EPA’s limits

0.15ppm

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025 average: 0.043 ppm

Averaged by year, the highest was 0.15 ppm, in 2021, below EPA’s legal limit of 4.0 ppm. Its highest single sample was 0.2 ppm. In 2025, the latest year on file, its three samples averaged 0.043 ppm. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 0.15 ppm, in 2012.

What handles it

Chromium (total)

Comes from the source

Below EPA’s limits

2.6ppb

Highest yearly average, 2020 to 2025

2025: not found

Averaged by year, the highest was 2.6 ppb, in 2020, below EPA’s legal limit of 100 ppb. In 2025, the latest year on file, it wasn’t found in any of its three samples. Earlier, from 2012 to 2019, EPA’s file shows a highest yearly average of 4.7 ppb, in 2014.

What handles it

2 compounds tested and not foundBelow the reporting level in every sample. Not found is not the same as zero.
  • Arsenic
  • Uranium

What handles it

A certification covers specific claims, not a whole standard. Look for these claims on the certifier’s listing, not the box. Wording varies a little: NSF writes “Lead Reduction,” WQA just “Lead.”

At the tap, or for the whole house?

Lead and copper usually come from pipes and fixtures inside or near your home. A whole-house system sits where water enters, so it cannot catch what your own plumbing adds after it. For those, the filter that counts is the one at the tap. How whole-house systems compare.

Filters with those claims on a certifier’s listing

Disclosure: TapBuff earns a commission if you buy through some links on this page. It does not change which standard or filter we name. As an Amazon Associate, TapBuff earns from qualifying purchases. How TapBuff makes money

Compare five-year costs

The best water filters for lead, ranked

Hardness

Very hard, typically 243 mg/L (14.2 grains per gallon), across 3 sampling points, 2020 to 2025.

Hardness is calcium and magnesium. EPA sets no limit for it: it shows up as scale on fixtures and in water heaters, and as soap that won’t lather. USGS calls water above 60 mg/L moderately hard, above 120 hard and above 180 very hard.

Softeners compared at 14.2 grains per gallon, salt includedSoftener or salt-free conditioner?California water hardness, utility by utility

Violations since 2016

Contaminant or ruleTypePeriodMeasuredStatus
Revised Total Coliform RuleColiform results required a check of the system, and the check or its fixes were not done on time.EPA: Treatment Technique, Level 1 Assessment (RTCR)Dec. 1, 2017—Resolved
Health-based violations only. Resolved and archived mean the utility returned to compliance or the state closed the record. 2 monitoring or reporting violations not shown.

What this report can’t tell you

  • Everything else. Nitrate, total trihalomethanes (TTHM), haloacetic acids (HAA5), fluoride, chromium (total), arsenic and uranium results here are California’s own from 2020 on, with EPA’s national file for 2012 to 2019. Cal Am - West San Martin’s own annual report, which it must send you every year, has the contaminants this page does not show.

  • Your own plumbing. Lead results are the 90th percentile across homes the utility samples. Your home’s service line, solder and fixtures decide yours. A certified lab test is the only way to know.

  • What it means for your health. This page reports what the records show and EPA’s limits and goals; it is not medical advice. If you are worried about a health effect, talk to a doctor or your local health department.

  • Anything after the latest data. SDWIS data is from 2026 Q3; UCMR 5 didn’t sample this utility; California’s results run from June 22, 2020 to June 8, 2026.

Testing your own tap

Cal Am - West San Martin’s results are for the water it sends out. What your own service line, solder and fixtures add shows up only in a test of your tap, by a lab California certifies.

The 3 labs California certifies closest to the area Cal Am - West San Martin serves, in a straight line. Call first: certification is test by test, and not every lab takes samples from homeowners.

  • Bracewell Engineering, Inc.

    Morgan Hill, CA · about 3 miles

    Certified for bacteria, nitrate, minerals and other inorganics

    (669) 258-5821

  • CM Analytical, Inc.

    Gilroy, CA · about 7 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (408) 848-3619

  • Santa Cruz County - Health Services Agency - Environmental Health

    Santa Cruz, CA · about 24 miles

    Certified for bacteria

    (831) 454-4624

All 145 certified labs for California

Sources

PWSID CA4300543. Rebuilt from EPA data on Oct. 18, 2026.

Towns it serves

Also in Santa Clara County

All California utilities

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